William, Duke of Normandy

William was the Duke of Normandy. By rights, he was the next in line to the throne following Edward the Confessor. He knew how to style things out.

Fiction

Once, Harold was captured by the Earl of Ponthieu. When William paid the ransom, Harold vowed his subservience to him.

Edward the Confessor died early in 1066. William and Edward Atheling were both contenders for the throne, but it was Harold that was proclaimed king. This displeased William, who raised an army to take the crown by force.

By autumn, William had gathered 60,000 men to invade England. They landed on the 26th of September. While alighting his ship, William's horse tripped and fell; one of the soldiers took it as a bad omen, but William claimed that made him master of the land, and everyone cheered.

On the 13th of October, William declared Senlac to be the site of their battle. He gave his men a rallying speech, and had his friend Toustain be the standard-bearer. After his knight Taillifer sang a Norman song to give his fellow soldiers courage, the battle began in earnest.

It was a struggle for the Normans; King Harold and the Anglo-Saxons fought from ramparts at the top of the hill and were defended from behind by a thick forest. The Normans' arrows couldn't reach, and their infantrymen were cut down. The battle went so poorly that even William was thought to have perished.

Suddenly, William emerged, riding on his charger, and the sight reinvigorated the men. William rallied his troops and bravely commanded them to pretend to run away; the Anglo-Saxons chased them and were slaughtered.

The battle ended when King Harold was fatally wounded by an arrow. William claimed the throne, and he built a monastery on the site of the battle. The Battle of Hastings – The True Story.

Notes

• William is more popularly known as William the Conqueror. His paying of Harold's ransom, and Harold subsequently walking back on his agreement of subservience, is also historically accurate.
• Like "Edward Atheling" (Edgar Ætheling), William was related to Edward the Confessor by blood, namely being his cousin.
• William falling from his horse while alighting his ship is derived from a common legend whereby he tripped (on foot) and styled it out as prostrating himself to literally seize the land. This doesn't appear to have actually occurred, and may in fact be something that (allegedly) happened to Julius Caesar.
• William's rallying of the men, renewing their vigour after believing him to be dead, is an underbaked representation of something depicted on the Bayeux Tapestry, where William falls from his horse and raises his helmet to reveal his face and prove he is still alive. William's horse falling from the boat is possibly also derived from this incident.